Carpet-cleaner



(No Model.)

. W. P. MILLER.

OARPET CLEANER. I No. 288,720. Patented Nov. 20,1883.

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

WVARREN P. MILLER, OF BROOKLYN, NEWVYORK.

CARPET-CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 288,720, dated November20, 1883,

Application filed. May 23,1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WARREN P. MILLER, a citizen of the United States,residing in the cityof Brooklyn, county of Kings and State of NewYork,'have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCarpet-Cleaners, fully described and represented in the followingspecification and the accompanying drawings,

forming a partof the same.

IO Itis the object of the present invention to provide an apparatus bywhich the dust and other loose impurities can be easily and effectuallyremoved from carpets and other fabrics without the necessity of shaking,beating, or

otherwise operating upon-them in a manner which is more or lessdamaging.

The principle of the invention and the manner in which it may bepractically embodied will be hereinafter so fully explained inconnection with the accompanying drawings as to render an extendedpreliminary description unnecessary to a prop er understanding thereof.1 Referring to said drawings, Figure 1 is an end elevation, partly insection, of an appa- 2 5 ratus embodying the invention in a simple form.Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe same;

Figs. 3, 4:, and 5 are detail views, to be hereinafter explained.

Referring to said figures it is to be understood that the carpet orother fabric, 10, to be cleaned is wound upon a drum or cage, 12,mounted in bearings in a frame-work of any suitable form, from which itis led to the cleaning mechanism, after which, as the cleaningprogresses, it is rewound up on a second drum or cage, 14, mounted insome convenient position in the frame-work Between the drums 12 14 thefabric is led over a suitable supporting-surface, represented in thepresent case bythe beam or turning-bar 13. The beam or turning-bar 13will preferably be so located that the fabric will make an abrupt turnin passing around it, and will preferably also be of such form that .thepoint around which the fabric turns will 45 be comparatively abrupt,thereby causing the piles of the. fabric, if it be of that class, or themeshes, if itbe of a smooth nature, to be drawn apart.

Lying parallel to the beam or bar 13 is a pipe,15, whichis supportedinasuitable manner in the frame-work, an d communi cates with a fanor-other blower. This pipe is provided with a series of nozzles, 16, sopositioned as to direct jets of air against the fabric 10 at the pointat which it makes the abrupt turn around the bar 13, as shown in Fig. 1.

Inorder that the jets of air issuing from the nozzles 16 may extend overa greater area of the fabric, the ends of said nozzles will preferablybe flattened, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, so as to present oval orelongated instead of round openings. In order, also, that the jets ofair issuing from said nozzles may act upon the entire'surface of thefabric as it passes around the edge of the bar 13, and also that saidjets may act at different angles, so as to reach all the interstices ofthe fabric, the nozzles are mounted in such a manner as to be capable ofoscillation or vibration, and are provided with means by which they willbe caused to assume different positions, as indicated by dotted lines inFig. 3; To effect thisthe nozzles, instead of being attached directly tothe pipe 15, are mounted so as to turn upon hollow arms 17,

extending from said pipe, said arms and 110zzles being constructed so asto communicate with each other in the same manner as an ordinarywater-cock. The nozzles-are provided with rearwardly extending arms 18,which are engaged by studs projecting from. a bar, 19, which isconnected by a link, 20, with a crank, 21, located at the side oftheframe-work,

as shown in Fig. 2.

- The different parts of the apparatus will be driven in any appropriateor convenient man- 8 5 ner, as by belts passing around pulleys, as 2223, so as to transmit motion from any convenient source of power.

The turning edge of the bar 13, instead of being made solid, as showninFig. 1, will usually be so formed asto permit the air to passthrough thefabric, which will greatly facilitate the cleaning. This may be done, asillustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, by providing the edge of the barwith aseries of loops, 9, which will act as guides and hold the fabricasufficient distance from the solid part of the bar to permit the air tocirculate freely through it. The same result may be attained by makingthe bar 13 or its turning-edge of wire-gauze, or of sheet metal providedwith a large number of perforations.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The carpet or otherfabricto be cleaned having been wound upon one of the drums, as 12, and itsfree end passed around the bar 13 and secured to the drum 14, the belt25 will be placed upon the pulley 23 of the drum 14, the belt 24 beingof course removed from the pulley 23 of the drum 12, and the apparatuswill be set in motion. The fabric 10 will then be slowly unwound fromthe drum 12 and rewound upon the drum 14, in which operation it will bedrawn around the abrupt edge of the bar 13, so as to have its piles ormeshes drawn apart or separated to permit the entrance of the air,while, owing to the fact that the bar 13 is stationary, this point ofbend will always be in exactly the proper position to be subjected tothe blast of air issuing from the nozzles 16, which nozzles will,throughthe pulley 22 and the connections described, receive anoscillating or vibrating motion, so as to direct the blast of air atdifferent angles against the whole surface of the fabric, therebyeffectually removing all dust and loose matter therefrom, and this willcontinue until the whole of the fabric has passed from the drum 12 tothe drum 14. If the fabric is not sufficiently cleaned in passing oncebefore the airblast, the belt 25 may be removed and the belt 24: placedupon the pulley 23 of the drum 12,so as to reverse the winding apparatusand pass the fabric a second time before the air-blast, and thisoperation may be repeated until the fabric has been passed before theblast a sufficient number oftimes to be thoroughly cleaned.

The drums 12 14 will each be provided with a suitable brake or tensionapparatus,bywhich the fabric will be kept at a proper tension as itpasses around the bar 13.

Many modifications may of course be made in the details of the apparatuswithout departing from or losing the advantages of the inven tion, theparticular apparatus shown being,as already stated, adopted for thepurpose of illustrating the principle and operation-of the invention.

' The feeding of the fabric to present its surface to the blast of airmay of course be effected by any convenient form of mechanism for thepurpose; so also any other suitable device may be adopted for vibratingthe nozzles 16.

' ing ed ge, of means for drawing thefabric around The nozzles also may,if preferred, be made independent of the pipe 15, and communicatetherewith by means of flexible connecting tubes.

To prevent the dust blown from the fabric from circulating in the roomin which the apparatus is located, the ends of the nozzles and the partof the fabric being operated upon may be surrounded by a casing, 8, asindicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, which will form asubstantially-closed chamber to receive the dust, and from which it willbe carried toa suitable receptacle, or to the open air, by the currentof air generated from the nozzles 16.

What I claim is- 1. In an apparatus for cleaning carpets and otherfabrics, the combination, with a series of air-blast nozzles, as 16, andmeans for vibratting said nozzles, of means for supporting the fabricwithin the range of said nozzles, and means for advancing the fabric asthe cleaning progresses, substantially as described.

.2. In an apparatus for cleaning carpets and other fabrics, thecombination, with means for advancing the fabric and means for giving tothe same an abrupt bend, of a series of airblast nozzles arranged todirect jets of air against the fabric at the point of said bend, andmeans for vibrating said nozzles, substantially as described.

- 3. In apparatus for cleaning carpets and other fabrics,thecombination, with the bar 13, of the series of air-blast nozzles 16, andmeans for vibrating said nozzles, substantially as described.

4. In an apparatus for cleaning carpets and other fabrics, thecombination, with the stationary bar 13, having an open or hollowturnsaid edge, and a series of air-blast nozzles arranged to direct jetsof air against the fabric as it passes said open or hollow edge, andmeans for vibrating said nozzles, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set' my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

. WARREN P. MILLER. \Vitn esses:

T. H. PALMER, J. A. HovEY.

